Marx and American Studies

This course will focus on the works of Marx, with an eye to how those works articulate with, and potentially enliven, American Studies. We will bring a philosophical, rhetorical, and methodological attention to Marx’s writings in order to see how those writings might be appropriated in unorthodox ways to generate cultural criticism. We will begin by familiarizing ourselves with Marx’s early writings, paying particular attention both to the hinge between idealism and materialism and to Marx’s method of interpretation. We will then closely consider the theory of value; Marxist-Feminist appropriations of Engels; and Marx’s political writings on nationalism, slavery, and the U.S. within global capitalism